Nationality and Maritime Borders Act
| Nationality and Maritime Borders Act | |
|---|---|
| Congressional Hall | |
| An Act to make provision about nationality, asylum and immigration; to make provision about victims of slavery or human trafficking; to provide a power for courts to charge participants where their behavior has wasted the courts' resources; and for connected purposes. | |
| Territorial extent | Zamastan |
| Enacted by | President Atticus Moreau |
| Date enacted | 8 April 2022 |
| Introduced by | Sienna Russell (BCP) |
| Status: In force | |
The Nationality and Maritime Borders Act is an Act passed by the Congressional Hall of Zamastan proposed in November 2021 relating to immigration, asylum, and the government's modern slavery response. The Act also deals with registration of stateless citizens. Essentially, the bill makes it illegal for migrants to enter into the country via maritime routes. Amongst other elements, it proposes to introduce "designated places" or "offshore" asylum hubs for application of refugee and migrant asylum claims, potentially in another Euronian country or an Adulan country. The bill grants the Government new powers to limit who is considered a victim of modern slavery, with clauses limiting support in cases where survivors have not complied with State-set deadlines to disclose their abuse.
The bill was drafted in response to record high immigration and asylum claims from migrants making the dangerous crossing through the Cantalle Ocean to the Upper Islands of Janapa, Ossinia, Lillestola, and Saint Astaba and Beck with the express goal of reaching Zamastan through the Ossinia Sea. Initially proposed by Senator Sienna Russell (BCP), the bill passed narrowly in the Congressional Hall with the full support of the BCP and its bloc, accompanied by some GLP-majority votes on April 8th, 2022, it was signed into law by President Atticus Moreau. President Moreau’s outgoing government hoped that a new immigration law would reduce immigration by making migrants and smugglers face harsher punishments. However, the rates of detained migrants and recorded crossings continued to climb despite the new law, and the bill was widely seen as a failure of Moreau's administration.